Apparatus for washing clothes



March 17, 1936. J. c, NELSON APPARATUS FOR WASHING CLOTHES Filed Aug. 21, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTDR W March 17, 1936. C NE ON 2,034,630

APPARATUS FOR .WASHING CLOTHES Filed Aug. 21, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet '2 INYENTEIR z yryw WITNEE s B Y 361% ATI'EIRNEYE Patented Mar. 17, 1936 PATENT o1=1=1c1z-v 2,034,630 APPARATUS FOR WASHING CLOTHES I Jabez 0. Nelson, Syracuse, N. Y., assignor to Easy Washing Machine Corporation, Syracuse, N. Y., a corporation, of Delaware Application August 21, 1923, Serial No. 686,171

7 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in apparatus for washing clothes and reference is hereby made to my co-pending application Serial No. 666,338 filed April 15, 1933.

In the above-mentioned co-pending application, I have described ,a novel method of and apparatus for washing clothes in which a dolly or agitator having a plurality of blades is mounted in a vat, the blades and central portion of the dolly being so arranged that when the dolly is oscillated, the contents of the vat are circulated in one general direction around the vat. During the circulation of the clothes around the vat, the clothes tend to rise upwardly toward the surface in a somewhat spiral curve and upon reaching the surface, they are drawn inwardly toward the center of the vat where the clothes are subjected .to the action which I have characterized as an individual action on the clothes as distinguished from a collective action.

An object'of my present invention is to provide an agitator of the general above described type adapted to circulate the contents of the vat in one general direction and having deep-cupshaped blades curved around the surface of a central post portion.

A further object of my invention is to provide a substantially cone-shaped dolly having elongated cup-shaped blades rising substantially from the bottom of the vat to the normal surface level of the liquid in the vat, the cups being curved around the cone whereby when the dolly is oscillated, the contents of the vat are circulated in one general direction around the vat.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a cross sectional view showing my novel dolly mounted in a washing vat.

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view taken from the line 22, Figure 1. V

Figure 3 is a perspective view of my novel dolly. A

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the dolly.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a slightly modified form of the dolly shown in Figure 3.

Figure 6 is a top plan cross sectional view of the dolly shown in Figure 5.

The dolly of my invention may be mounted in any suitable'vat or tub, such as illustrated in the drawings, having side walls II, a bottom l2 and a cover l3. The .bottom of the vat at substantially its central portion is provided with an opening for the reception of one end of a. flanged upstanding sleeve [4 secured to the bottom l2 of the vat in any suitable water-tight manner. This sleeve, at its upper end, is provided with a portion iii of reduced internal diameter constituting an upper bearing for an oscillatable dolly shaft I! which extends upwardly from a 5 point without the vat to a point above the bearing IS. The lower end of the dolly shaft ll, as shown in the drawings, may be provided with a thrust bearing in the form of a contact ball l8.

Any usual and well known means may be pro- 10 vided for oscillating the dolly shaft through a desirable are as, for instance, 200 degrees more or less, and there is here shown a gear 19 mounted on the shaft for rotation therewith and adapted to be driven in reverse directions by a segmental gear or rack 2| reciprocated by any suitablemechanism well knowh in the art to which this invention applies, generally indicated by the numeral 22. The mechanism for oscillating the dolly may be partially inclosed by an apron 20 23 depending from and secured to the bottom of the washing vat in any suitable manner.

Thedolly shaft l1 projects above the bearing I6 and is formed at its upper end with lengthwise splines or grooves 24 for inter-engagement 25 with corresponding splines or grooves on the bearing member 26 permanently secured within the upper closed end 21 of the dolly generally indicated by the numeral 28. As shown in the drawings, the dolly has a central hollow bore for the reception of concentric therewith, the shaft l1 and the sleeve l4. Projecting inwardly from the internal periphery of the dolly 28 are a pluralityof ribs or projections 30 which are shouldered at 3| for'the reception of a lower hearing 32 which is fixed to the internal ribs 30 and rotates with respect to the sleeve I4. In this manner, a driving connection and support for the dolly is provided by means of the dolly shaft itself, and the dolly is guided by the 40' upper andlower guide bearings l6 and 32.

The dollyi itself comprises preferably a substantially cone-shaped upstanding central portion orstem which rises substantially from the bottom of the vat toa point normally projectingsome distance above the water level so that leakage of cleansing fluid along the shaft I! is prevented. While the pitch of the cone will depend some what upon the shape of the vat, in order to secure the maximum advantage from the type of construction shown, it is preferable that the side walls of the cone extend at an angle of 10 degrees more or less to the base portion. At the lower extremity of the cone, the sides are curved or flared outwardly as at 34 to form a disc-like strucc5 ture at the bottom of the cone which aids in preventing clothes from being caught between the bottom of the dolly and the bottom of the vat.

A plurality of blades 36, preferably three in number, extend outwardly from. the central portion and curve downwardly and therearound any desired amount, in this instance, about 20 degrees more or less. Although if desired, the internal edge of the blades, as for example, the edge 31 may be substantially vertical with respect to the liquid in the vat downwardly and around the central portion and merge smoothly into the slightly.

, disc-shaped portion 34 at the bottom of the dolly.

Preferably, the blades increase in width substantially from the top of the dolly towards the bottom so that at a point adjacent the bottom as, for example, at point 39, the blades are of substantial width and the lower edge, as the edge 40 curves inwardly to merge with the base.

In order to distinguish the surfaces of the blades designated, I have termed the cup-shaped surface indicated by the numeral 4|, the leading, and the other surface indicated by the numeral 42, the following surface. The following surface 42 is smoothly curved rearwardly from the edges 31 and 38 in order that the dolly may be resisted but slightly by the contents of the vat when the dolly is oscillated in a counter-clockwise direction. The following surface 42 increases in width toward the-bottom of the vat and merges smoothly at 43 into the cone-shaped central portion to form a substantially elongated pear-shaped appearing structure.

In Figures and 6, I have illustrated a slightly modified form of my invention in which a pair of elongated cup-shaped blades 44 extend from and curve downwardly and around the surface of the central portion 45 which, in this instance, is substantially a cylinder. The central portion curves smoothly at 46 into a disc 41 and the blades increase in width toward the bottom and curve inwardly to merge with the disc at 48.

In operation, upon rotation of the dolly in a clockwise direction, the cleansing fluid and clothes are caught in the blades and are thrown outwardly in a somewhat tangential direction towards the sides of the vat and circulated in a clockwise direction in the vat. Upon reversal, because of the curvature of the following surface 42 which is resisted but slightly by the contents of the vat, no substantial reversal of the contents of the vat occurs, the dolly, to a certain extent,

merely sliding through the water pushing the clothes outwardly toward the sides of the vat. Upon again reversing, a new batch of clothes is caught in the blades and hurled around the vat. The clothes, because the leading cup-shaped surface tends to hurl the contents of the vat in a clockwise direction while the following surface has but slight effect when rotating in the opposite direction, circulate substantially in a continuous clockwise direction around the vat.

Although I have shown and described a speciflc form and construction of apparatus 'as constituting an. embodiment of the invention, I do not wish to restrict myself to the details shown, as various changes and modifications may be readily made without departing from the scope of my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine for washing clothes, a vat having a normal surface level of cleansing fluid, an oscillatable agitator mounted in said vat, said agitator comprising a central body portion rising from substantially the bottom of the vat to the normal surface level of cleansing fluid, and a plurality of deeply cupped blades curved around said central body portion and extending substantially from the normal surface level of the cleansing fluid to the bottom of the vat, and

means for oscillating said agitator.

2. In a machine 'for washing clothes, a vat having a normal surface level of cleansing fluid, an oscillatable agitator mounted in said vat, said agitator comprising a central body portion, and a plurality of deeply cupped blades extending from said agitator and from substantially the bottom of the vat to the normal surface level of cleansing fluid, at least the outer edges of said blades being curved around said central body portion, and means for oscillating said agitator.

3. In a machine for washing clothes, a vat having a normal surface level of cleansing fluid, an oscillatable agitator mounted in said vat, said agitator comprising a central body member extending substantially from the normal surface level of cleansing fluid and terminating near the bottom of the vat in an outwardly flared portion, and a plurality of cup-shaped blades extending downwardly from the normal surface level of the cleansing fluid substantially to the bottom of the vat and curved around said body member, and means for oscillating said agitator.

downwardly from the normal surface level and merging near the bottom of the vat in an outwardly flared portion, and a plurality of cupshaped blades extending from near the top of the body member and merging into the flared portion, the inner and outer edges of said blades being curved around the body portion and the outer edge curving inwardly adjacent the flared portion to merge smoothly therewith, and means for oscillating said agitator.

5. In a machine for washing clothes, a vat having a normal surface level of cleansing fluid, an oscillatable agitator mounted in said vat, said agitator comprising a central body portion, and a plurality of deeply cupped" blades extending from said agitator and from substantially the bottom of the vat to the normal surface level of cleansing fluid, the inner and outer longitudinal edges of said blades being curved around the central body portion, and means for oscillating said agitator.

6. In a machine for washing clothes, a vat having a normal surface level of cleansing fluid, an oscillatable agitator mounted in said vat, said agitator comprising a central cone-shaped body portion, and a plurality of deeply cupped blades extending from said agitator and from substantially the bottom of the vat to the normal surface level of .cleansing fluid, the inner and outer longitudinal edges of said blades being curved around the central body portion, and means for oscillating said agitator.

. 7. In a machine for washing clothes, a vat having a normal surface level of cleansing fluid, an oscillatable agitator mounted in said vat, said agitator comprising a central body member extending substantially from the normal surface level of cleansing fluid and terminating near the bottom of the vat, and a plurality of deeply cupped blades, the cup portion of said blades extending substantially from the top of said central portion to the bottom of the vat, and means for oscillating said agitator.

JABEZ c. NELSON. 

